The Food - Pepper Crusted Duck with Cherry Port Sauce

Slow Cooker Pepper-Crusted Duck with Cherry Port Sauce

October 7, 2012

Ingredients
A 3 1/2 pound duck, ready for roasting
1 1/2 cups red wine (I used Mertlot today)
1 cup ruby port
a 1 1/4 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled
2 tbs. sugar
2 tbs. balamic vinegar
2 cups of thawed (or fresh), pitted sour cherries
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbs. cracked black peppercorns

Fold the wings of the duck back and secure behind the back to form a flat resting area for the duck to be breast up in the slow cooker.
Put the cracked pepper on a cookie sheet and roll the breast side of the duck in the pepper, covering the breasts and thighs.
Place the duck breast up in the slow cooker.
Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl and pour around the duck (not over) in the slow cooker.
Cover and set on low for 8 hours.

This is an experiment.  I altered a recipe for duck breasts that I found on finecooking.com.  I'll update how it turns out, and whether or not the sauce needs thickening, etc.

Why mess with a perfectly good recipe?  I didn't have time to fuss with it, I had sour cherries in the freezer we needed to use, and I wanted to try the tastes with the last of last years ducks from the freezer.  Yesterday we had to work horses and mend fences.  We didn't get done until after dark and dinner as all ready!  And the heat and flavor of the pepper mingled with the tart of the cherries and was wonderful.  I did not thicken the pan juices last night.  My plan for leftovers tonight is to bone the duck, skim the fat off of the drippings and thicken the them to make a sauce for the leftover pieces of meat.  I'll serve it over wild rice or brown rice or  a combination of the two.